


Anchor Me or I'll Fly Away (Iris)

by Dynamic_Ideation



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 07:09:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3682728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dynamic_Ideation/pseuds/Dynamic_Ideation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They work in the same company, and Barry must literally talk Iris down from a ledge.</p><p>" “You weren’t really planning on…doing that, were you?” If he had a hat he’d be wringing it in his hands.<br/>“I’m not sure,” she said, and it was an honest answer.<br/>“Well you know what they say. This is an awfully permanent solution to a temporary problem.” "</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anchor Me or I'll Fly Away (Iris)

**Author's Note:**

> I also wrote a parallel fic in which their roles were reversed. Please read and let me know what you think!
> 
> Of course, I own nothing here I'm just your friendly neighborhood fangirl. Unbeta'd.

“Miss! Miss, wait!” Iris was startled, but she couldn’t turn around to see who it was. If she did she would have fallen seventeen stories. 

She’d been standing on the ledge, on the roof of the Giegens Building, arms outstretched, imagining the sensation of flying just before it all went dark. 

“Wait,” the mystery man said again. She lowered her arms, slowly, and turned around, slowly. 

A really terrified looking guy stood there. His clothing and general demeanor said “IT geek”. She just looked at him, calmly. Probably too calmly for his liking.  
She wasn’t really sure what to say so she simply said, “Yes?” It felt like a stupid thing to say. 

“You weren’t really planning on…doing that, were you?” If he had a hat he’d be wringing it in his hands.  
“I’m not sure,” she said, and it was an honest answer.  
“Well you know what they say. This is an awfully permanent solution to a temporary problem.” In his nervousness he shuffled from one foot to the other, like the rooftop was burning him. “Look, I don’t know what you’re going through, but whatever it is, you can talk to me about it.”

Iris was suddenly angry. “Why would I want to talk to you about it? How could you possibly help me? Everybody talks about how they’re there for you in your time of need but that’s bullshit. I can’t count on you. You don’t care about me. You don’t even know me.”

“That’s not true.” He held up his hands in a pleading manner. “I see you, sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. I figure maybe you’re a writer, because you’re always on your laptop, typing a million miles an hour, and a couple times I saw you smile like you just came up with a great new idea.” He looked sheepish for knowing so much. “You sit by yourself in the caf and you look sad. You carry a picture with you, I think. When you look at it, You look…even more sad. Maybe you lost someone?” He shifted to the other foot again. “I would see you and I would think, if you don’t mind my saying so, that a person so lovely deserved to…be able to smile.”

The tears started to run and she knew she was ugly crying in front of a stranger but she couldn’t hold back the floodgates. He came to her, and took her hand. “Let’s get you down from there.” He wrapped his other arm around her waist and lowered her. He was so thin, but still so tall and his body so hard, and Iris couldn’t help but take notice.

Away from the roof’s edge he sat on the raised foundation beneath some ancient satellite dish. She paced a bit, all of her thoughts suddenly spilling out. She knew the rooftop was a bad idea, she was just depressed and grieving and exhausted, and she just wanted the pain to go away.

“My dad. He’s…he was a detective. He got killed in the line of duty.” Her voice hitched. “I just can’t believe… it was all so sudden…I talked to him an hour before it happened, I was going to meet him for lunch… I had just told him I loved him, Then they call me to tell me he’s gone. Because some coward with a gun didn’t want to spend a night in jail.” She struggled for breath through the overwhelming tears. “ i lost my mom when I was young. he was all I had, he was everything to me. and I’m falling apart. I can’t do this. Not without him.” He stood and pulled her to him and held her, letting her tears and snot stain his cardigan where she’d buried her face against his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish I could make it hurt less.” He stroked her hair. She clung to him while she cried, shivering and miserable, feeling like she’d go right over the edge and down seventeen stories if she let go. “But you’re strong, and that’s obvious. You’ve got a lot to say, and I think you can use your voice to reach lots of people. If you can pull through, you’ll be able to do something really special with that voice. I don’t doubt it for a second.” His beautiful green eyes peered into hers. She was feeling much better.

“You’re so tall,” she said with a embarrassed laugh, when she realized how far down he was leaning to hold her.  
He randomly responded with, “I’d like to be your friend.”  
“What?” She waved him away. “I’m a basket case. You don’t want me bringing you down all the time. You’ve done enough for one afternoon.”  
“well regardless, I, um, I think you’re someone I would like to know.” He got that shy look about him again.  
“Well, you’ve already seen me at my worst.”  
And he hugged her. She felt so comfortable, and she felt…maybe something more, something more physical.  
“What’s your name?”  
“Iris.”  
“Iris,” he echoed, as if trying out the sound for the first time. “I like it. It suits you.”  
“What’s your name?”  
“I’m Barry. Barry Allen.” An involuntary thought crossed her mind. Iris Allen? Iris West Allen? She shook the thought out of her head. Crazy talk.  
She gave him her widest smile. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to meet you, Barry Allen.”


End file.
